Sports

Nuggets look forward to home stretch in January

ByADRIAN DATER The Denver Post

Posted:
12/06/2012 07:52:20 AM MST

"January," Nuggets coach George Karl said, "is going to be fun."

It has the potential to be fun. After all, the Nuggets have 12 of their first 15 games in January in front of the home fans, with Rocky the mascot doing his thing -- maybe, as he was for some of Monday's game, still in a Santa suit. There's no cookin' like NBA home cookin', especially in the regular season, so January remains a hopeful stretch for a road-weary Nuggets team.

In the meantime, it's wheels up again.

After their upcoming five-game road trip, which starts Wednesday at Atlanta, the Nuggets will have been away from home in 17 of their first 23 games.

Truth be told, the built-in excuse of being on the road a lot has been at least alluded to by the players. But nobody will feel sorry for them, not when NBA teams travel in luxury.

Great teams win no matter where the games are played, and if the Nuggets (9-9) have any shot at becoming a great team -- as they say they want to be -- then they need to start winning more on the road. The promise of January cannot be thought of as some kind of insurance policy or a built-in excuse not to be better by then, though the Nuggets have been far better at home (5-1) than the road (4-8).

"We've got to get our swag back," Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson said. "I think we've still been playing pretty well, but we've got to take care of business (on the road)."

Karl said he is "excited" by the trip that will see his team play Atlanta, Indiana, the New York Knicks, Detroit and Minnesota.

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"I can't wait," Karl said, with a dry sarcasm. "But actually, I am excited by this trip. I just think we're going to get over the hump. We should have won a couple games on the last road trip, and we didn't. But I think our guys have a good frame (of mind)."

Nuggets center JaVale McGee, coming off one of his best games of the season with 17 points and five blocks Monday night against Toronto, said: "Hopefully, we can come together and catch a little streak. But we've got to get that first one."

It won't be easy against a Hawks team that has impressed observers with a balanced scoring attack. If the Nuggets have one big advantage on paper, it's in rebounding. Atlanta (9-5) is ranked 28th in the NBA (39.4 per game), and the Nuggets are second (46.7).

"That's how we have to approach every game -- dominating the glass and getting after it," Lawson said.